Friday (May 4-6, 2012)
My husband had never been to Nantucket, and I had only
been once, so we booked a spring weekend in early May to visit this island located
31 miles off Cape Cod. We drove the 75
minutes from Boston to Hyannis and bought two round-trip tickets for the 11am
fast ferry (one hour) at a cost of $67 per person. We chose the
Steamship Authority over
Hy-Line Cruises as the price was slightly less expensive and the
11am departure time was more convenient.
Arriving in Nantucket, we passed the Brant Point
Lighthouse before pulling up to the dock.
The sky was cloudy but not raining (as forecasted) so we left the ship
and walked up the street toward the quaint
Anchor Inn on Centre Street, an easy
eight-minute walk from the boat.
At the inn, a friendly staffer cheerfully greeted us,
gave us a brief tour and showed us to our room for the weekend. It was only noon, but our room was ready and
Heather let us check in early, which was fantastic. We stayed in the cozy
Tucker room, which we liked because of its privacy. It had its own private
staircase and a small balcony/sitting area with two plastic chairs, nothing
fancy but so nice to sit outdoors.
The room was bright, clean and nicely decorated and we
appreciated the greenery outside of the windows. The bed was very comfortable
and the bathroom had a tub (not just a shower).
Most importantly, our room was very quiet; we didn't hear other guests.
Hungry, we walked to find the Rope Walk Restaurant, at
the recommendation of my husband’s coworker, who suggested we pop in for a
lobster roll. The Rope Walk Restaurant,
like most of Nantucket in early May as locals prepare for the summer season,
was closed and under construction. After
circling the cobblestone downtown area for an open restaurant, we stumbled upon
the
Brotherhood of Thieves on Broad Street.
We grabbed two seats at the bar and ordered lunch. Two
chowders, a lobster roll, a crab burger and four Cisco Whale's Tale Pale Ales ($7.50
each!) brought our lunch bill to at the surprisingly high cost of $80. However, service was great and the chowder
was AMAZING, as was the lobster roll.
The crab burger was just ok and almost impossible to eat, falling apart
in our hands.
After lunch, we walked around the pier and peeked into
the shops downtown before taking a stroll to the White Elephant to check
out the property. Later, we settled in
for a much-needed nap at the inn, but not before making 7:30pm reservations at
Dune, a restaurant on Broad Street.
Arriving at Dune, we had a drink at its beautiful, lively
bar before being seated in a lovely corner of the restaurant. From the host to the bartender to our server
to the busboy, the staff was incredible and professional and very, very
friendly. We shared:
- Lobster and Chive Gnocchi, Braised Pheasant and Tomato
Ragu, Favas, Fresh Ricotta & Basil
- Roasted Red & Gold Beets, Whipped and Aged Goat
Cheese, Pistachios & Aged Balsamic
- Baked Yellow Tail Flounder, Spinach, Grilled Vidalia,
Sweet Potatoes, Lemon & Parsley
- Pan seared yellow-fin tuna – so amazing
- Warm Fig, Bread & Butter Pudding for dessert.
Our dining experience at Dune was the highlight of our
weekend – don’t miss it!
After dinner, we had a drink at
The Rose and Crown on
South Water Street and watched the Celtics games. At 10pm, a DJ started playing tunes, more
folks piled in and the dance floor got busy.
A fun place!
Saturday
After breakfast (juice, coffee, tea, fresh fruit and warm
muffins) in the Anchor Inn’s lovely breakfast room, we grabbed our windbreakers
and headed to
Affordable Rentals on South Beach Street. The man at the desk was super friendly and
rented us a two-door Jeep Wrangler for $99 for 24 hours. After a quick stop at the gas station, we
headed out to Siaconset, stopping at Sankaty Head to photograph the lighthouse
and explore a bit.
After that, we drove
to Wauwinet to visit the Coatue Wildlife Refuge, home of Great Point Beach and
the Great Point Lighthouse. In our jeep, we drove for miles right on the beach – so beautiful and
full of wildlife!
We saw seals,
shorebirds, seagulls nesting in the dunes; the colors of the coastal plants
were amazing. A sunny day would have
made the scenery more breathtaking but even with clouds, we enjoyed the
remoteness and beauty of the nature surrounding us. We also saw a colony of grey seals – there
must have been 200 of them – frolicking in a protected area. As we walked back to toward our jeep, 10 or
15 of the seals swam along with us; we figured they were protecting the others
or just curious.
Click here to see a video of the seals (I was
not near the seals, just have a decent zoom).
Back in the jeep, it was 2pm and we were starving! We headed back to town to find some
lunch. I heard from another traveler
that
Stubby’s near the pier has great Jamaican dishes and we were not
disappointed! Jason ordered the jerk
chicken and I ordered the chicken curry.
Served with rice and beans and washed down with Gatorade (Red Stripe
would have been better but no alcohol at Stubby’s), this was a perfect lunch! Don’t forget to try an oatmeal or chocolate
chip cookie – yum!
Back in the jeep, we headed toward Bartlett’s Farm,
stopping to check out Cisco Beach. I had
read about bluegrass at the
Cisco Brewery at 4pm, so we parked to check it out
and have a beer. What an awesome place
this must be in the summer with its outdoor seating and fun atmosphere! We each ordered a Whale’s Tale Pale Ale and a
Bailey’s Blonde Ale, grabbed two chairs and listened to the two-man band play a
few tunes.
After a nap, we walked to
Fifty-Six Union in time for our
8pm reservation. After a martini each at
the bar, we moved to a table and ordered dinner. We split the soup of the day (a sweet
potato/ginger soup, I believe) and a wedge salad (usually our favorite) but we
did not care for the dressing. We both
wanted the seared Nantucket Bay scallops but the restaurant was out of
them. We ordered the Osso Bucco, which
was filling and tasty, as well as a strawberry/blueberry shortcake
dessert. Our server was cold to us; we
were pretty disappointed with this restaurant compared to our fabulous
experience at Dune – especially considering Fifty-Six Union was more expensive!
After a walk along the pier, we stopped into the
Brotherhood of Thieves for a beer, and then headed to bed.
Sunday
We woke up early, grabbed coffee and pastries at Island
Coffee near the wharf (the Morning Glory muffin is fabulous – carrots, raisins,
healthy!) and headed out in the beautiful sunshine (yay!) to explore more of
the island. First stop, Dionis Beach which was absolutely spectacular! I loved the fence adorned with conch shells
and even added a shell that I found on the beach.
Next, we followed an unpaved road lined with fabulous
homes to Eel Point, where we were able to drive right on the beach again, for miles. Wow, this was fantastic! We parked, with the sun warming us, and ate
our breakfast in the jeep overlooking the water, just spectacular.
Our last stop was at Surfside Beach, which was amazing.
We took a long walk on the wide beach, and found several sand dollars and all
sorts of treasures along the way. We saw
a young seal on the beach and I felt sad, thinking it was sick or on death’s
door. A woman on the beach told us it
was molting, or shedding its skin and would probably be ok eventually. She also told us how important it is to stay
150 feet away from all seals, because they can bite, which we didn’t know.
After returning the jeep, we said our goodbyes to the
innkeepers at the Anchor Inn, and read our books on benches in town in the sun
until boarding our 12:30pm ferry. After
an easy ride back to Hyannis, we hopped on the shuttle bus back to our car and paid
the whopping $36 parking fee for just over 48 hours of parking.
As expensive as it was, we enjoyed our trip to Nantucket
and would like to visit in warmer weather and enjoy this island’s unspoiled and
serene beaches. To learn more about
Nantucket, click
here.
Afterthought - we saw these two birds perched on a sand dune - anyone know what they are? Hawks?
Plus, we had access
to the Fairmont Gold Lounge, where we enjoyed complimentary breakfast, assorted
non-alcoholic beverages and an honor bar and a "Sweet Dreams" buffet
featuring local desserts.
